President Bush and Chancellor Schroder Discuss Partnership

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary (excerpts):

Electoral Palace
Mainz, Germany

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: (As translated.)

Now, the discussion about Iran took quite a bit of space during our meeting, and let me say openly and frankly that regarding the targets that we are trying to achieve, we are fully congruous; that is to say we absolutely agree that Iran must say, no, to any kind of nuclear weapon, full stop. That is the joint target that Europeans uphold as much as the U.S. Americans, and we are very much of the opinion that this is the target that needs to be achieved through a diplomatic negotiating path, if at all possible. But this means there needs to be movement on both sides.

Now, we very much assume that this opportunity is there, and I very much am pleased to see that the activities undertaken by the three European powers -- Great Britain, France, and Germany -- find the support of the U.S. American President. And we very much agree that the targets we're going for is very much agreed: Iran must not have any nuclear weapons. They must waive any right to the production thereof, and they must renounce the right to even close the fuel cycle.

Now, what has now been -- may have been done in a temporary agreement has to be nailed down fully and completely and -- well, sustainably. ...

PRESIDENT BUSH:

We spent time talking about Iran, and I want to thank Gerhard for taking the lead, along with Britain and France, on this important issue. It's vital that the Iranians hear the world speak with one voice that they shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. You know, yesterday I was asked about the U.S. position, and I said all options are on the table. That's part of our position. But I also reminded people that diplomacy is just beginning. Iran is not Iraq. We've just started the diplomatic efforts, and I want to thank our friends for taking the lead and I will -- we will work with them to convince the mullahs that they need to give up their nuclear ambitions. ...

Q Mr. President. Chancellor Schröder has said that Iran will abandon its nuclear ambitions only after knowing that its economic and legitimate security concerns have been addressed. First of all, do you agree with that assessment, and can that happen without the United States joining the talks with Iran?

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. Look, first, let me just make this very clear -- the party that has caused these discussions to occur in the first place are the Iranians. And the reason we're having these discussions is because they were caught enriching uranium after they had signed a treaty saying they wouldn't enrich uranium. So there is a -- these discussions are occurring because they have breached a contract with the international community. They're the party that needs to be held to account, not any of us.

And secondly, what we discussed with our German friends and French and British friends, as well, is a series of negotiating tactics -- how to make sure the process moves forward without yielding to our universal demand.

I might add, I believe there's another demand that makes sense, as well, and that is that the Iranian government listen to the hopes and aspirations of the Iranian people. That's what the German system does; that's what the American system does. We believe that the voice of the people ought to be determining policy, because we believe in democracy and freedom. And so, as we go down the road, we look forward to discussing ways to make -- to talk with the three interlocutors, without yielding at all on the universal demand that they must give up their weapons in a transparent way. And I'm hopeful we can achieve our objective. And we discussed tactics, some of which have bubbled up, obviously, into the public domain.

And we will continue to talk tactics, to make sure that we achieve the objective: Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. For the sake of security and peace, they must not have a nuclear weapon. And that is a goal shared by Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States. And working together, we can get this accomplished. ...